Population

Population statistics for pre-contact periods are sketchy at best. Anthropologists have estimated the populations to be in the range of 2,000 to 2,370. Kroeber estimated the population in 1851, to be about 2,000. He based his calculations on 50 settlements, each with an average of 40 persons per village. Winthrop reports that today, "Shasta informants view these estimates as extremely low" (21).